Wichita eagle., 1887-01-05
DEATH PENALTY IN KANSAS.
One Man who was JudicialIy Executed

One Msn who was Judicially Executed.
The hanging of the two Indians one
month from TODAY, will be the first judi
cial hanging that will have occurred with
in the state of Kansas, at any rate the 1lrsl
on record Ii is thought by some that there
were judicial hangings before the new law
came into force which makes the sentence
of hanging incomplete without the sigma
ture of The governor Of the state, but there
is no record of any to be found.-beacon.
The EAGLE, twice since the sentence OF
death was passed upon the two Indians to
be executed in this city next month, has
corrected like mistatements with the above.
The present law. which was intended to do
away with capital punishment without en-
tirely wiping out the dread of the would
be murderer of a death sentence, was pass
ed during the administration OF Governor
Harvey. and at his solicitation. That was
in 1863. Now as early as 1860, we witnessed,
officially, and reported for the Missouri
Democrat. judicial hanging in Kansas
which was witnessed by five others, three
county officers, Methodist preacher and a
Catholic priest. The man hung was
named Bates. young married man whose
new wife just before the awful judicial
tragedy gave birth to twin boys, Bates
had stolen a horse, or at least he was
charged with stealing a horse, for which
he had been arrested 10y deputy sheriff in
Usage county named John Policy, whose
father was cripple and justice of the
peace named Abel Policy. This was at
Burlingame. the then county seat of
Usage, and there was no county jail. The
deputy, who kept Bates at his home In
shackles. went away with his wife to
spend the day at neighbors, leaving
the prisoner in the care OF his
old crippled father who, while
reading hls Bible, forgot his
prisoner who in turn reached up in loft
and got down a loaded shot gun. With
this he tried to scare the old man, who
wouldn't scare. but who attempted to
wrench the weapon away from the prisoner.
In the struggle thc stock was broken OF
and the old man received the contents OF
one of The barrels in his side and hip from
which he died and for which Bates
stretched hemp, at the hands of Billy Co
zine. the sheriff. He was sentenced TO die
by Judge John Watson, Of Emporla, &c
ceased; was prosecuted by Major JIM
Phillips deceased. and defended by Hon.
James Rogers, deceased. The Judge or
dered Bates hung in the court yard within
a proper inclosure. Lumber being dear
we, the county officers. concluded that the
court house was a good enough Enclosure,
s. We had scaffold erected in the court
room, up stairs. directly beneath a scuttle
hole in the ceiling. which led To the cupola,
W. c. Chattield recorder of deeds, and
County Treasurer McDougal superintend-
ing the job.
The fatal hour finally rolled around,
and we led poor Bates, bear headed and
bear footed. up stairs and up TO his death.
The Methodist preacher wanted to offer Il
asst prayer for him but the Catholic priest
had engaged to do that thing himself. As
compromise Bates kneeled at the foot of
his death trap with the preacher on one
side and the priest upon the other. The
Methodist prayed long and loud with his
eyes tight shut. while the priest touched
Bates on the shoulder and kept his alten-
ton riviied upon crUciiiX. the while
whispering in his ear. For the next ten
minutes the strain WAS simply awful, as
hard upon Us If not upen the other four or
five. As it WAS upon the unfortunate vic
tim Bates weighed lS5 pounds. and the
trap worked faultlesSly. He fell full feet
and only quivered. But We shall never
forget the strain Of the few moments sue
ceeding the pulling of the black cloth over
his face. and these preceding the spring
ing of the fatal fall. nor YET the after in
diguatiou Of Judge Watson who held the
writer responsible for deSecration Of the
hall of justice. we having in the interest OF
the tax payer suggested that to build an en-
closure would he a useless expense. Bates
was dead within the shortest possible time
After letting him hang twenty minutes hi
was cut down and his body was carried out
in a snow storm and buried over behind
the hill. and we are inclined tn the opinion
that our account is sufficient in detail Il
put stop 10 the continued assertion by
newspapers. that no judicial hanging evel
occurred in Kansas.